Medical Alert

I noticed the other day when I was visiting with my grandmother that she had received a brochure from one of those Medical Alert systems they have for the elderly. I wasn't sure if she actually got one of those systems or was just looking into it. I skimmed throught the brochure, and first thought this could be a good thing for her to have. Besides providing her with a "panic button" if she needs help, it also has an inactivity monitor that will notify the system to contact someone for assistance, and it reminds her when her medications are due. Sounds great, right? Then I continued to read about how she needs to notify the system when she leaves the house so it doesn't detect her absence as inactivity. She also needs to notify the system again when she returns. It should be simple. Just push this button and hold it for 5 seconds. But if there is one thing I have learned, nothing is simple.

The next evening, I am beginning to make dinner when I get a call on my cell phone from my Aunt Gini who lives in Florida. I find this unusual and answer the call immediately. She is concerned because she received a phone call from the Medical Alert company stating that Gram was not responding to them. I told her I thought my other aunt was there with Gram this evening, but I would check it out. I RAN down the block to Gram's to find not only Aunt Tricia there, but the house was full of people. Gram was walking around and seemed to be fine. It was my sister and my aunt who were not ok. They were getting frustrated as they tried to figure out how to work this new Medical Alert system. It seems they tripped the alarm as they were trying to set up the box, and they couldn't figure out how to answer the operator from the Med Alert system to let them know everything was ok. I called Aunt Gini in Florida to let her know not to worry, everything was fine. Then I returned home to finish preparing our dinner.

I assumed my sister and my aunt had read the directions, figured everything out, and all should be well again. Oops, never assume. The next evening we all gathered for my cousin's son's birthday party. Due to the amount of kids coming to the party, his wife rented a party room. Gram was there and we were all visiting. Aunt Tricia was talking about Gram's new medical alert system and I asked "Did you remember to notify the system you were leaving home?". No one knew what I was talking about. I explained that if she doesn't push the button to notify them she is leaving, it will detect her absence as inactivity and alert the system. At first no one seemed concerned about it. Finally I told Aunt Tricia "I guess I better keep my cell phone handy so when Aunt Gini calls from Florida, I can let her know everything is ok." I guess she finally realized we were probably going to cause alarm for her sister. She left a message on Aunt Gini's cell phone that they didn't know about this "away" feature and Gram was with us and fine. Problem solved.

Not so fast! About two hours later, my mother, who is on a cruise, calls my cell phone sounding alarmed. "Do you know where Gram is?" she asks me. I laughed. Sure enough the system alarmed, but instead of calling my Aunt Gini in Florida, or my Aunt Tricia who was here, they tracked down my mother on her cell phone, in the middle of the ocean. I told her Gram was with me and explained that she did not notify the system she was leaving the house.

Hopefully this will be the end of the false alarms, but I'm not holding my breath. I may turn blue!